sunshine through the fog

During last week's team training, one of the warm-up qns was "Who (in our team) has travelled to the most countries?"

Definitely not me... Our boss has been to 30 countries! Nevertheless, prompted me to tally my own "score". Just to see how far behind I am. :p

Apac

(1) Australia (Gold Coast, Perth)

(2) Cambodia (Phnom Penh, Siem Reap)

(3) China (Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Zhuhai)

(4) Hongkong & Macau (ahem...)

(5) Japan (Hokkaido, Tokyo)

(6) Malaysia (JB, KL, PJ, Ulu Yam, Malacca, Penang, Genting, Sibu, Tioman, Langkawi)

(7) Indonesia (Bintan)

(8) Taiwan

(9) Thailand (Bangkok, Hatyai, Phuket, Songkhla)

(10) Vietnam (Hanoi, Halong Bay, Sapa)

Europe

(11) UK (London, Oxford, Bath)

(12) Austria (Salzburg, Innsbruck, Vienna)

(13) France (Paris)

(14) Holland (Amsterdam)

(15) Italy (Florence, Venice, Rome)

(16) Switzerland (Luzerne, Interlaken, Zurich, Basel, Geneve)

(17) Vatican City


Sheesh... I'm still a long long long way behind... :(

I have access back to my blog!!!

And all the other blogspirit sites...

Maybe if i'm feeling dilligent this weekend i'd upload some vietnam photos... :)

Haven't been able to access blogspirit / related sites from home...

 

Anyone knows why?

19 March 2007 8:10pm Hanoi time 

We spent SGD54 preparing for the chill in Sapa. On these:-

•  A thick bomber jacket for him
•  A thick bomber jacket for me
•  A light sweater for him
•  A light sweater for me
•  A pair of gloves for him
•  A pair of gloves for me
• A woollen cap for me, just in case

 

Nothing on souvenirs. A few bucks on snacks for the train ride later.

 

Hope we don't get scary people sharing the cabin later overnight. Nor on the return trip.

 

P.S. Halong Bay was terrific!

17 March 2007 7:40pm Hanoi time 

 

Landed at Noi Bai last night straight into a light drizzle... That hasn't stopped yet.

 

We packed for Singapore-like weather.

 

What I wore today: tank top, 3/4 pants, slippers. And a jacket, just in case.

 

The weather today: 18 °C

 

:s

I'm tickled. By this.

Summary for those too lazy to click on the link & read it:-

&diams The Higher Power of Scrotum by Susan Patron, is this year’s winner of the Newbery Award, the most prestigious award in children’s literature.

&diams It has since given rise to much debate - not so much on the entire content of the book, but focus on one word that appeared in the book.

&diams Yes you've guessed it - the word is "scrotum", which appeared on the 1st page of the book.

&diams Apparently this is a problem for some librarians and parents who have been challenging and/or removing the book from school library shelves

And get this...

&diams The scrotum in question belongs to a dog named Roy!

2 thoughts:
1) I need to get my hands on that book!
2) Once again proven - Singaporeans aren't the only anal species!

If this happened in Singapore, we'd be going like, "Singapore is so conservative", " Singapore is full of censorship.", "Singapore has no freedom of speech", "Singapore is so stifling" etc. etc. etc.

Well, look what the king of free speech has to say about this! Particularly amused by this guy's commentary on the matter.

Doesn't hurt that the book has a nice cover... :D

When: 10 Mar 2007 (Saturday)

Where: GV Vivocity

What: Drama & Biopic

Synopsis: Chris Gardner is a bright and talented, but marginally employed salesman. Struggling to make ends meet, Gardner finds himself and his five-year-old son evicted from their San Francisco apartment with nowhere to go. When Gardner lands an internship at a prestigious stock brokerage firm, he and his son endure many hardships, including living in shelters, in pursuit of his dream of a better life for the two of them. happiness.

My take: No, it's not a spelling error. "Happyness" is how it's spelled at the childcare that Smith Jr attended in the Chinatown of San Francisco. The only thought that kept running through my head throughout the entire movie is: Poverty is a scary scary thing...

When: 7 Mar 2007 (Wednesday)

Where: Orchard Cineleisure

What: Drama, Musical/Performing Arts and Adaptation

Synopsis: Effie White, Deena Jones, and Lorrell Robinson - three friends from Chicago - are a promising singing trio called The Dreamettes. Accompanied by their songwriter C.C. White (Effie's brother), they travel to New York to compete in a talent show at the Apollo Theatre. Although the girls lose this first bid for fame, their talent attracts an ambitious manager by the name of Curtis Taylor, Jr., who uses unscrupulous tactics to move the girls from backup singers of superstar James "Thunder" Early to superstars of their own. Curtis reshapes the group to "crossover" from R & B to the lucrative pop music scene. Lead singer Effie gets replaced by the more attractive Deena and is eventually dropped from the trio. The group evolves into a more sophisticated group, The Dreams, with a lighter sound and chic look. They successfully attract a "whiter" audience and The Dreams rise to international stardom. The money, fame, and adulation, however, doesn't bring them happiness.

My take: I didn't know it's a musical! Not too bad...

... in my mind...

I think I must be now in one of the happiest stage of my life thus far. Ignoring the minor, not-so-consequential discontent and wish-can-be-betters. Yes, I've never been happier.

But this happiness is tinged. By the fact that I'm not able to share it with the one person who would be happiest for me. For she is gone.

The irony? The happier I am, the sadder I get that she's not here to share my joy.

I know I should stop harping on this topic and move on. Whoever's reading my blog might probably be sick and tired of me saying the same old thing again and again and again.

But I miss her so. And no, the pain hasn't gone away. Even after months. It just goes in hiding and rears its desolate head deep at night. And I don't think it'd ever. Perhaps it'd stay in wait for longer periods of time. Perhaps it'd be less harsh. But no, it'd never go away.

Because she'd never be back.